Numerical Simulations and Modeling of Heat and Mass Transport in Membrane-Based Heat Exchangers

Authors

Saja Al-rifai, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Yiding Cao

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Marc D. Polanka

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Osama Mohammed

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Bilal El-Zahab

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Ibrahim Tansel

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Transport membrane condenser, condensation heat transfer, tube bundle, ceramic membrane, flue gas, TMC correlations, nanoporous ceramic membrane, flue gas, multiphase modeling, heat and mass transfer

Date of Defense

11-7-2022

Abstract

Transport membrane condenser (TMC) technology employs nanoporous ceramic membrane as a tubular heat-exchanger element to recover water vapor mass and related latent and sensible heat from flue gases. In this study, prior numerical studies and modeling of the TMC performance are expanded and improved. The heat and mass transfer and pressure drop related to the crossflow ceramic nanoporous tubes in the TMC have been studied numerically within wide ranges of tube diameters. The number of rows, Reynolds number, turbulence intensity, membrane properties, flue gases, and cooling water inlet conditions have also been considered. Two condensation models, Fick’s diffusion law and the mixed condensation model, were examined and implemented in user-defined functions (UDFs). In addition, the dominant condensation mechanism was investigated. The results showed that the wall condensation mechanism is dominant at the same membrane porosity and water vapor mass fraction.

The numerical results with condensing flue gases were compared to available correlations for single-phase Nusselt numbers and pressure drops in the literature. It was found that, except for some selected conditions, the single-phase correlations were noticeably different from the TMC numerical results. Therefore, new empirical TMC correlations for heat transfer and pressure drops as a function of condensation rate, number of rows, and the nanoporous membrane geometrical properties were derived. The established correlations for TMC show a good agreement with numerical data for all investigated parameters. With high certainty, they can predict the convective Nusselt number, overall Nusselt number, and friction factor for the TMC.

A multiphase modeling approach using the volume of fluid (VOF), species transport, and Lee phase change models coupled with Darcy’s law was proposed for modeling the heat and mass transfer inside the TMC tube bundle. The multiphase model results were closer to the experimental results than the single-phase model in terms of the outlet flue-gas temperature and condensation rate. Based on the observed and monitored flow pattern in the nanoporous ceramic membrane, the multiphase model can predict phase change and water transport on the TMC wall.

Identifier

FIDC010886

Previously Published In

Saja Al-Rifai, Cheng-Xian Lin, (2021). Heat and Mass Transfer Correlations for Staggered Nanoporous Membrane Tubes in Flue Gas Crossflow. Journal of Heat Transfer. Jun 2022, 144(6): 062702 (15 pages).

Saja Al-Rifai, Cheng-Xian Lin, (2022). Steady State Multiphase Modeling of Heat and Mass Transfer Inside Transport Membrane Condenser. Proceedings of the 7^th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC), Partially Online Virtual and in Las Vegas, NV Conference, TFEC-2022- 40942.

Saja Al-Rifai, Cheng-Xian Lin, (2022). Numerical Study in the Dominant Condensation Mechanism in the Cross-Flow Transport Membrane Condenser. Proceedings of the ASME 2022 Heat Transfer Summer Conference SHTC, SHTC 2022-81884.

Saja Al-Rifai, Cheng-Xian Lin, (2021). Heat and Mass Transfer in Cross Flow Transport Membrane Condenser Based Heat Exchanger: A Computational Parametric Study. Proceedings of the 5-6^th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC, Virtual, TFEC-2020-32231.

Saja Al-Rifai, Cheng-Xian Lin, (2021). Influence of Flue Gas Turbulence Intensity on the heat and Mass Transfer and Pressure Drop Inside a TMC Based Heat Exchanger. Proceedings of the Heat Transfer Summer Conference, ASME, Virtual, HT2021-62552.

Recommended Citation

Al-rifai, Saja, "Numerical Simulations and Modeling of Heat and Mass Transport in Membrane-Based Heat Exchangers" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5187.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5187